Wise Counsel

1 Corinthians 6:1-11

"When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints? Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life! So if you have such cases, why do you lay them before those who have no standing in the church? I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers, but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers? To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? But you yourselves wrong and defraud—even your own brothers! Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God"

I read this passage for weeks, thinking and thinking about what I wanted to say on it, and I came back to one work: WISDOM. As saints, we are blessed with salvation throughout the person and work and Jesus Christ. What's more (yes! incredibly there is more) God also grants us the gift of the Holy Spirit. In Ephesians the Spirit is called a deposit. An evidence of the promise from God to keep and purify us until we are with Him in glory. The Spirit is our helper, our guide, our friend, ever present in times of need. And, the Spirit produces fruit in our lives. We can live a life that honors the Lord because He has given us the ability to do so. WISDOM is one of the characteristics of the Spirit within us. Paul tells the church that they will judge the world and angels and are able to judge each other. The WISDOM to do so does not come from their natural understanding (Paul told them already that none of them are inherently wise) but from the presence of the Spirit within them. 

I was considering how the passage applies to my life. I have no need to sue anyone. I don't desire to take any of my friends court. I don't need retribution for wrongs or the need for someone to deliver to me what they owe me.  But often I find myself in need of guidance.  There are so many times that I could use WISDOM on practical matters. Things like how should I respond to my friend? or Jake and I can't decide how to handle this matter in our marriage... or maybe someday it will be how do I discipline my child in this area? 

First and foremost the scriptures makes it clear that we should take these questions to the Lord. Ephesians 6: 18 tells us to "pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests".  We do have the Holy Spirit within us and have the ability to hear from Him on these matters. BUT I believe it is also important to seek the counsel of others. "The way of the fool seems right but a wise man listens to advice" Proverbs 12:15. The question that this passage in 1 Corinthians addresses so clearly is one of where to seek counsel from. As a proud and stubborn woman, I am guilty of going to the first person who I think will agree with me. Believer or not, I just want someone to take my side. But  Paul asks here "Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers?"  There is a body of believers who are also full of the Spirit of God. Could it be that one of them has been granted by the Spirit wisdom I need in any given area of my life? 

My prayer for myself is that I would turn first to the Lord, and then to His people. That would trust the working of the Holy Spirit in the lives of others. They may be able to see clearly where I can not. And may these actions bring about in the body of Christ a unity through His Spirit that will work in this world for our good and His glory. 

A Hard Conversation

1 Corinthians 5:1-12

"It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father's wife. And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you. For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge?"

Have you ever had a hard conversation coming with a person and you put it off and put it off and avoided them because you just had no idea what you were going to say? That as been me with this post. I'm sitting down to a conversation with my readers about church discipline. A conversation I have stayed away from because this passage really kicked me in the pants. Even now, as I begin to write, I'm not really sure where this is going to go. But it is getting in the way of moving on. So here we go:

I think that it is very hard to ignore the practical application of this passage in corporate worship. What I mean it that, though some churches do not touch this with a thirty-foot-pole, when you read this there is not doubt that a person who is unrepentant of their sin should no longer be allowed to worship as part of the family. Some churches, like the Corinthians, do not like this idea. They would rather love everyone. They would rather be accepting and not judge. They don't want to seem closed minded so they they close their eyes instead. But, I was reminded in a sermon by John Piper that, Christ is not divided. Titus 2:13-14 tell us that "[Jesus] gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works."  You can not separate the pardoning of Christ from the His purifying. 

Now for the hard part. Let's apply our personal life today. In a world of cell phones and social media. Where you don't have to see a person daily to call them friend. You don't have to attend church with them to be aware that they claim to know Christ. You don't have to take communion with them to be their brother. How does this play out? Do we personally cut off association with them, loving them enough to say may God open your eyes? Or do we love them from afar, preaching the gospel when possible as often as possible, hoping the Spirit moves? I don't know. I don't have an answer. I sit here and my heart is like a pendulum. Back and forth. Back and forth. I'm a part of the global church, but how do you carry this out without a local body? I will continue to be in prayer on this one. Maybe I'll have an encouraging update to it soon.... May the Lord reveal His will on this one. For our good and His glory. 

Judging the Faithful

1 Corinthians 4:1-5

"This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in the darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God." 

Hopefully, if you are believer, you are in regular attendance at a church. How did you choose your church? Have you gone there since you were little? Did you check over the doctrinal statement before you came back? Maybe you like the music, or the kids programs, or the  stain glass behind the pulpit. Or is it the potluck after each service? Or the coffee in the lobby before? Maybe you like multiple of these things. But I would bet that you could love all of this, but if you did not approve the pastor, you would be gone. Sometimes we're put off by how he speaks, his style, his language, or the length of his messages. Sometimes it's the things he says. I wouldn't have emphasized that verse. I would have said more not that topic. I wish he hadn't used that term to describe that sin. 

I've talked before about being in college and judging the speakers who came to chapel. There were those who were misinformed (to put it nicely) concerning some major biblical truths. But for the most part, I was just judgmental. I thought I had the right to judge whether or not that speaker (usually a local pastor) should be at the pulpit. Maybe I should have studied this passage before I opened my mouth. 

Paul makes it clear here that the leaders of the church are accountable for their actions. He calls them "stewards" and calls them to be "faithful". He says that they are "of Christ" which more accurately is "belonging to Christ". They have been called to a task by God to handle wisely the "mysteries of God".  Not just the gospel but other things that are hidden to the wisdom of man (for example: the mystery of marriage). These men are servants sent to serve the Church. But I love what Alistair Begg said, these men are servants but the church is not their master. Christ is. and Paul reminds us, "It is the Lord who judges me". 

This does not mean that there shouldn't be checks on the pastors of a church. Sin and false doctrine threaten the life of a church and they need to be addressed. But Paul was writing to a church who were divided over teachers. They picked their favorites and raised them up while judging and putting down others. This kind of habitual judging breaks apart the unity God intended for His body. Let's strive to uplift those that Lord has given to us to impart His wisdom. 

The last verse of this passage reads "each one will receive his commendation from God." Other translations read "his praise from God." When we think of the judgment seat, many of us picture people (and pastors) we take issue with standing before God and the Lord making everyone aware of all the flaws we've noticed in them for so long. But this verse left me wondering, "what praise will God give to the people I've judged so harshly? before the entirety of creation won't He commend them for being a faithful servant?" Those who love the Lord and seek to shepherd His people will not be perfect, but praise God that they strive to faithfully steward His word our good and His glory. 

Some things I loved while studying this week: 

Before You Criticize Your Pastor - Post by Josh Reich from Revolution Tucson

The Call of Ministry - Sermon by Alistair Begg from Truth for Life

Building Blocks

1 Corinthians 3:10-23

"According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple. Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.”  So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are . Christ's, and Christ is God's."

Last summer a few friends and I lead a program for refugee children in El Cajon. Each morning we would come early to set up and go over the schedule for the day. Then we would pull out some games and wait for the kids to check in. Wes began a morning ritual early in the summer. He would gather all Jenga pieces and build towers. It was his goal to build the tallest tower he could. Of course there were obstacles. An uneven building surface, 5-6 eight-year olds wanting to "help", other kids playing tag in the room knocking against tables, etc. Creating a stable structure out of a bunch of blocks was not easy which made Wes even more proud when he created something that was worthy of having it's picture taken for future bragging rights. This week I read about the image of a temple being built. I'll admit I do not see myself as some who builds much of anything. 

However, truth is, we are all builders. As members of the church we build upon the firm foundation of Christ. It is our job to build up the body into maturity. But not everyone will build a good structure. That is why Paul warns us, "let each one take care how he builds." It may be easy to disregard this caution, thinking that it does not apply to you. But I loved something that Josh Reich said on Sunday at Revolution. He talked about how leadership is defined by influence. We all have a sphere that we influence, that we lead in some way, that we build up. Who are you leading? How are you doing that? This passage tells us that "each one's work will become manifest... it will be revealed by fire." How we build will be judged because each of us has the power to grow the church stronger in unity or to destroy it with quarreling and discord. 

But, and please don't miss this, I do not think that the judgment of our work is reason enough to build well upon the foundation. We should not work for unity in order to receive a prize. Paul ends this passage with a command. "Let no one boast in men." Do not elevate yourself or others due to pride or a need of control. Because, "all things are yours, and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's." This is a blessing. We have been given all things in Christ. We no longer need to strive for recognition or power on earth because we have all things. And still we are all unified in that we are all in Christ. He is the head of the Church and we submit all we have (which is everything) to Him. And we can trust Him because He submits to God the Father. Even unto death, He has proven that He will do the will of the Father to build the Kingdom of God. And so can we, not for a prize or even our own good. But for His glory.

*My sister Anna and David, her husband, came to visit this weekend (i'll post about that later) so this is the post that should have been up on 10/26

** If you want to go more in depth into this passage I encourage you to listen to John Piper's Sermons on it here and here.  

Mind Blown!

1 Corinthians 2:6-16

"Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written,“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”  these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ."

For almost a month now, I have been studying about the incredible way that God works out salvation in the hearts and minds of man. It's absolutely fantastic the way that He has chooses the foolish and base things to make much of Himself and nothing of the world. The cross, the called and the preachers look ridiculous when seen through the eyes of men. Then, in an amazing twist, when we are saved, the "secret and hidden wisdom of God" is made known to us. One of the things I am most in awe of, is the working of the Holy Spirit to open the eyes of our hearts and teach us the mind of God. 

Paul begins this passage by explaining that once a person is saved they begin to be taught wisdom "which God decreed before the ages". This means that we can now look at scripture and understand the amazing plan God has to redeem the world to Himself. No longer does the Bible seem like a hodgepodge of myths and good teachings. Instead, we can see that God has been working since before the world was made to set into motion a plan for our salvation. That is amazing! He blesses us with a love to magnificent that it literally moves heaven and earth to plot out a path to pursue us. DANG! 

But it get's better. Paul continues,  "For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God" Please think about that for a minute. It's fairly easy for me to accept that God knows all my thoughts. It's a bit harder to comprehend how, knowing those evil thoughts of mine, He still loves and accepts me. But, I struggle even more with the thought that He also wants me to understand Him. So much so, that He gives me the Spirit of Himself who comprehends the thoughts of God. And why does He gives us that Spirit? "that we might understand the things freely given us by God."  MIND BLOWN! Let that blow your mind for minute. Then consider this: 

We worry when talking to people about the gospel that they will not accept us. We worry about their judgment of us and of our God. Verse 15 tells us, "the spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one" This is not because suddenly we are better than the world but because, "we have the mind of Christ" If the Spirit within us testifies of the incredible, beautiful, awesome truth of the cross, why worry about what the natural world thinks? We can share boldly about the gospel knowing it is the Spirit who enlightens men. We can step out and proclaim the beauty of Jesus and allow Him to move in the hearts of the hearers. And we can rest in the love of the God who has called us to spread His story for our good and His glory. 

Takes Me Back...

Tomorrow Jake is speaking in chapel. I am so excited to go hear him preach the Word of God. He is nervous. TOTALLY understandable! And as I was seeking to encourage him I couldn't help but wonder to myself, "will he speak clearly?", "will his transitions work so that it flows?", "will the students accept what he has to say?", "will they respect him?" I was taken back to my days sittings in chapel at SDCC. Feeling the safety of the anonimity that a crowd of students brings, I was more than happy to judge the speaker (and his walk w/ the Lord) based on the 20 minute sermonette he had just delivered. I neatly tucked away mental scores based on stage presence, humor, theology, Bible translation used and relate-ability. Yet, as I sought to calm Jake's nerves a passage from Isaiah came to mind.

"For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
   and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
    giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
   it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
   and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it."

Isaiah 55:10-11

Why did I not consider this in school? I was so full of my own self-righteousness that I forgot it is the Lord that works. HIS Word does not return empty with out accomplishing HIS purpose because it is HIM who has sent It. I love this passage. I pray that as I continue to grow in the Lord, He will grow my love for His people. Especially those He has called to teach His word. (It really is not easy task, and I truly appreciate those men who take up this post). I pray that my heart will be one of discernment rather than judgment so I may find joy in the expounding of His truth. I pray He will bring this about for my good and His glory.